Oslo

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OSLO

I have only been to Oslo once in my life and all I can remember is the feeling that I liked the city quite a lot and that the weather was good, because it was in the middle of the summer. I like Norway as a country a lot, so I decided that I wanted to learn more about Oslo, so I won’t be totally lost if I will visit it some day in the future.

Where is Oslo?
Oslo is located in the south-east of Norway at the head of the great Oslo fiord and the outflow of Loelva. The city is said to be very nice and cosy, and it has a population of about 500.000 people. Together with the surrounding suburbs and islands there are 900.000 inhabitants, so it is quite a small city for being a capital, but it is still the biggest city in Norway and the fourth biggest in the Nordic countries.
The royal family lives in Oslo in the royal palace, Kongeliga Slottet, and the Norwegian parliament has its headquarters here.

The weather
The climate in Oslo is quite the same as here in Falköping. In January, the mean temperature is approximately between -2 and -4 degrees Celsius and in July it is between 16 and 18 degrees, just like here. The annual precipitation though, is bigger in Oslo. It rains or snows 730 mm per year compared to 550-650 mm per year in Falköping.

Oslo then and now
Oslo was founded in the middle of the 11th century, by a king called Harold Hårdråde. At first, the city was just a small market place but as time passed by and the city grew, it became more and more important and it was later made to a bishopric.
In 1299, on a rocky peninsula, the famous Akershus castle was built. It became the residence for the Norwegian royal family but in the 16th century it developed into a fortress.
The city prospered in the late Middle Ages, and it was a very important city in the Hanseatic League, but then Norway had to join a union with Denmark and in 1567 and 1624 fires almost completely destroyed the city, so because of this, the city was no longer as important as it had been. After the fire in 1624, the city was rebuilt northeast of Akershus. The Danish king Christian IV wanted the city to be named after him, so it was named Christiania. Unfortunately, there are not much left of the original city, which was located east of Akershus.
The city experienced a new time of prosperity in the 18th and 19th century and when Norway had to break the union with Denmark in 1814, just to immediately join one with Sweden, Christiania was made to capital of Norway. In 1905, Norway became independent for the first time since the Middle Ages and by this time Christiania had grown to the most populous city in the country and also an important economic centre. The city was renamed Oslo in 1925.
Nowadays, Oslo still is the leading city in Norway when it comes to economy as well as administration. You can also say that the city is the centre of the infrastructure. Oslo is the starting point for the road network and all railway tracks starts from the central train station. There are also tracks that run to Stockholm and Gothenburg.




What to do in Oslo
There are a lot of different things that can be done in Oslo, and here comes a selection of mine, and I guess that there will be something for everyone here.
Akershus castle and fortress
The Medieval building Akershus has both been used as a royal palace and as a fortress for protection of the city. Today, it is used as reception rooms for the Norwegian government, but does also include a museum, where you can see the castle church and models of the castle’s different appearances through the years. In the afternoon, you can see the changing of the guards, and if you are lucky, there is some concert to watch as well. Don’t forget to take a peak of the fantastic view over the Oslo fiord while you are there.

The Vigeland Park
Northwest or the centre lies the beautiful Frogner Park where you can do many different things. One thing is to take a walk in The Vigeland Park, which is situated in the middle of the Frogner Park. Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) designed the park by himself and here stands more than 200 sculptures visualising people in different expressions made by him. His sculptures are made in bronze, granite and iron and visualize humans in different expressions. There is also a museum called the Vigeland Museum, where Gustav Vigeland once lived and worked. Here you can watch models of almost all his productions and also models of the Vigeland Park.

The Viking Ship Museum
This museum contains of three big ships from the Viking Age, the Oseberg, the Gokstad and the Tune. Of these three ships, Oseberg is the one which is preserved the best. They believe that Oseberg was just a ship built for pleasure trips, while the Gokstad was more of a warship. Unfortunately, not much artefacts have been found from the Tune, so we don’t know much about it.

Holmenkollen Ski Museum and Tower
The oldest ski museum in the world is located just outside Oslo in Holmenkollen. The museum is situated inside the very jump for ski jumpers, where people not only learn a lot about skiing and its history, but also get a fantastic view of Oslo. In the museum, visitors will see ancient equipment, as old as 4000 years, right next to the newest and most modern skis. A snowboard section has just been set up for those who have had enough of alpine skiing.
Every year in March, they celebrate Holmenkollen Ski Festival here, and in the summers they fill the lowest part, where the jumpers land, with water, so people can bath in it. They do also arrange concerts and similar activities here.

Karl Johans Gate and Akers Brygge
The main street in Oslo is called Karl Johans Gate and runs from the Eastern Railway station to the Royal Palace. Along the street stands the National Theatre (Nationaltheatret), the Parliament Building (Stortinget) and many other famous buildings. In front of the Palace stands a statue over the Swedish king Karl XIV Johan, which is known as Carl III Johan in Norway.
Just opposite Akershus is the nowadays trendy Akers Brygge located. The restaurants and shops lie directly on the bridge. Right next to the cosy harbour has a new modern gallery been built.


Events
The Nobel Peace Prize
On the 10th of December every year, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel committee, in the City Hall in Oslo. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five original Nobel Prizes, and it is the only one which is awarded outside Sweden. It is awarded here because when the Nobel Prizes first was invented by Alfred Nobel, Norway was still united with Sweden, so it was decided that four of them should be awarded in Sweden, and one of them in Norway.

Constitution Day
Norway’s Commemoration Day is celebrated on the 17th of May. It is a holiday, so most people are free to celebrate the whole day. When they celebrate, they dress up in traditional dresses and thousands of pupils and marching bands from up along Karl Johans Gate to parade down to the Royal Palace, where they are greeted by the Royal family.

What do I think of Oslo?
It seems to me, after what I have learnt, that Oslo really is the nice and cosy city it is said to be. It is a big city but not too big, but on the other hand; it is also quite a small city, but not too smal...